Youness Atbane on who gets to define Arab art in today's museums

Youness Atbane, a performer, choreographer and visual artist, examines the decision-makers behind Arab artists' representation and valuation. His work, Untitled 14km, set inside an imaginary museum, scrutinizes how museums, curators and cultural institutions shape what Arab art should represent. Premiered at Mucem in 2019, the show toured Marrakesh, Casablanca, Belfast and Cairo, eliciting reactions usually heard quietly backstage.

Atbane acknowledges the work as satire but was amazed by the industry's response, with many describing the oppression they felt. Blending performance, dance and installation, Untitled 14km follows an Arab artist, a curator, a Western museum director and an Arab-Andalusian poet attempting to organize an exhibition. As identities and legitimacy become battlegrounds, the broader debate centers on who decides how Arab culture should be presented.

Atbane is skeptical of the diversity, representation and decolonisation trend, citing the gap between institution's language and practice. He provides an example, noting that a German artist can be paid more than a Moroccan artist for the same exhibition, a problem in the context of decolonisation. The nature of these decisions, Atbane claims, reflects the growing influence of curators who act as intermediaries between artists and institutions.

He laments the rise of the "star curator" who institutions prefer over artists, who are seen as all-knowing and knowledgeable about good or bad art and frame how a particular artwork or region is viewed. However, curators' role is not independent, with museums playing a more active role in the Middle East and North Africa, promoting Africanity over shared Arab identity.

Atbane emphasizes the responsibility of artists to create change by taking opportunities provided by institutions. He highlights Abu Dhabi's audience's growing expectations, which he experiences firsthand during masterclasses with NYU Abu Dhabi students.